You Can Trust Me
by CatalynnCastellan
Summary: We ALL know how Luke and Thalia found seven year old Annabeth. But do we know how Luke and Thalia first found each other? Please read. Slight hints of Thuke..
1. Time Stands Still

Hey, guys! This is my first ever fanfic. Hopefully you'll like it, because this is something I've wanted to see for a looong time, but no one ever really did. So after a lot of arguing with myself, I came up with the genius idea of doing it myself. DISCLAIMER: Do I LOOK like Rick Riordan?

"Hey, listen! Put your shield up. I just want to talk." The blonde boy says. That startles me a bit. No one ever calls Aegis a shield. It's usually_, Hey! Put that umbrella down! Or, What are you doing with that garbage can lid? _ The same for monsters. It's like people can't see things for what they really are. Either that or I'm freaking insane. I quickly regain my composure. "Drop your knife." I demand, staring at the dagger in his hands. Looking at it, he drops it on the ground, holding his hands up. "Please. I just want to talk to you." Sighing, I reluctantly tap my shield and watch as it morphs into a delicate silver bracelet. His bright blue eyes stay on my wrist, a serious expression on his face.

"What's your name?" he asks carefully. I scowl at that, instinctively raising my walls, making the walls clearer.

"Look, I don't care how much money my mother's offering, but-"

"No. No. "He says almost immediately. He raises his hands again. "Just, let me start over. I'm Luke Castellan." I analyze his face carefully, finally meeting his solemn eyes.

"Thalia Grace." I say, tentatively holding out my hand. Luke takes it, and squeezes just a little too hard. In response, a spark of electricity flashes up his hand. I pull away quickly, letting the apologies slip past my lips. "I'm really sorry, I just do that...to almost every person I meet. I don't know why." I explain shamefully. Luke laughs once. "No, it's okay. So, Thalia, I take it you're a runaway too? "I nod, gnawing on my cold lip. "I had to leave, Luke. I swear my mother's demented, ranting on about how some Greek god..." I stop there; scared he'll think I'm an idiot. "A Greek god what?" he asks excitedly, meeting my eyes with pure eagerness. I shrug. "It's nothing." We walk for a bit, until we end up sitting at a park bench. "It sounds like something." He slyly brings up the topic. I grimace and shake my head. He sighs, staring at me intently. "Well, Thalia, my mom thinks a Greek god is my dad. I don't see how it gets weirder than that. I can probably take it." I stare at him in complete shock. Despite the cold, his pale face turns red. "I mean, that's what my mom says. I don't believe her-"

"Yeah, I get that. Mine says that too." Luke shifts uncomfortably at my remark.

"But, my mom…she's just _not all there, _you know? She has these weird flashes, and she grabs me, screaming in my face…"

"She hit you, Luke?" I ask sympathetically, knowing what it feels like. He shakes his head and murmurs something I can't quite catch because of the harsh wind. "Well, my mom hit us all the time. She's an alcoholic, so she's drunk like, 90% of the time we're around her." I say quietly. He regards me kindly. Or I 'm sure it's supposed to be kindly. I haven't seen kindness in a long time. "Hey, Thalia." he says slowly. I look up at him, the cold stinging my pale cheeks. "You look really cold. You think we can talk more about this children of the gods stuff, like in a, building?" he asks. I smile at that. "Okay." As we walk down the trashy sidewalk, I can't help but be mesmerized at this boy, the pale blonde hair, those bright blue eyes…And this insanity we've each been trying to sort out by ourselves. Maybe he was what I needed. Someone to trust.

Please Review! You're here anyways. :) New chapter coming up, you can probably guess what it's gonna be about! Please let me know if YOU think I should continue! And thank you to Ladyriverwolf for correcting me a bit. Love you all. Keep calm and go to camp half blood.


	2. Once Step Closer

"So Luke, how old are you?" I ask him, just to keep him talking, pointing the attention away from me. "Fourteen. And you?"

"Twelve."

"Little young to be out on the streets all alone, don't you think? Pretty girl like you, who knows what might happen. " I laugh at that. "I am perfectly capable of defending myself." He nods. "Evidently." He walks silently for a while, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Umm, Thalia? Can I ask you something?" "Sure." I nod. He hesitates a little bit. "When you mentioned 'us' when talking about your mom, who were you referring to?" My heart beat quickens, the rising guilt and anger, frustrations, rising up again like a fresh would. "Yeah. I have a little brother." I choke out, seeing Jason's little face in my mind. His innocent smile with that small scar above his lip. We pass a park, hearing little kids playing. That doesn't help one bit. "Do you know what happened to him?" Luke asks softly. "I don't know for sure. I just know that my mother had something to do with it." I tell him, my tone coated in malice. I bite my lip to try and keep from crying. Jason. What had happened to him? I could still hear myself screaming for him, finding nothing but my demented mother crying on the ground, repeating, _I'm sorry! I'm sorry!_ "Hey, Thalia." Luke says gently, pulling me from my thoughts. Luke takes a deep breath. "As untrustworthy our mothers may seem, maybe they were on to something, you know?" He says, sitting on a park bench. I sit beside him, suddenly interested. "Why do you say that?" I ask seriously, sitting beside him. "This child of the gods thing?" he asks me, looking into my eyes. "Maybe it's not so crazy."

"What?" I ask, a grimace on my face. He sees my expression. "No, no. Look, listen to this." He says, slinging his backpack off of his shoulders. He searches frantically for a few minutes and then pulls out a dark green book. Still staring at me intently, he hands it to me. I take it, assuming he's just giving it to me to hold on to it. After staring up at him cluelessly, he sighs. "Read the cover, Thalia." I look at the ground, completely embarrassed. "No, Luke, I-I can't read. I'm-"

"Dyslexic ." we finish together. I look up at him in surprise and quickly turn away, heat flooding my face. He pulls my face up to his. "I am too. That's what makes this so amazing. Please read the cover." I nod slowly and force my eyes to the picture on the book. It was a Greek statue, marble and totally flawless. I make my eyes stare at the title. I take a quick look at it.

"This is _Greek_."

"I know. Just _read it_."

" I can barely read _English_!" I say loudly.

"Read the cover." He responds calmly. Angrily I look at the title."Demigod heroes, children of the gods?" I recite perfectly. I look up at Luke, who has a huge smile on his face. I stammer and look back at the book, my eyes widening. "I can read this?" I ask him. He nods. "And I don't know how, but I can read it too, like my brain is meant for this. Like it's hardwired for Greek."

I shake my head in disbelief, running through the pages, trying it out on random pages.

I understand every single word.

Hey guys! What'd ya think? Thalia and Luke finally make a link to their heritage as demigods. More to come, promise. I should be done by Tuesday at the latest. Review, review, review! Pretty please?


	3. Heart Beats Fast

"But…this is Greek." I repeat, still mystified by this newfound discovery. Luke nods, his pale blonde hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah, Thalia, that's Greek. Ancient Greek."

"But how-"

"I don't know." He admits. "All I know is that we can barely keep up in class, but when it comes to his ancient stuff, we're like this." He says, snapping. The sharp sound fills the cold air. I nod slowly. "I still want my hot chocolate." I say seriously, trying to ease the tension. He smiles at me and brushes his hand across my cheek. "Of course you do. Come on." I follow him across the street into a coffee shop. He holds the door open for me. I step inside and am overwhelmed with the sweet scents of cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate. "So, this children of the gods stuff." He casually brings up as we step in line behind a black-haired woman in line. "Can wait until we're alone." I whisper. He smiles at his, amused somewhat at my cautiousness. I scowl up at him, and he winks at me. I blush a bright red and look away, hoping he doesn't notice. We finally get to the cashier, Luke in front of me."What'll you guys have?" a bright voice asks. "I'll take a hot chocolate." Luke says calmly. "Me too." I tell her, careful not to make eye contact. I didn't want her identifying me as Thalia Grace later on. "Sure!" she chirps her voice cheerful, flying to the counter behind her. A crazy thought crosses my mind. "Luke, you aren't suggesting we are demigods?" I ask quietly.

A silence passes. "How can you not see it?" he asks me, regarding me with pure bewilderment. "It's an insane idea." I tell him, a bit tense. He stays quiet. "Here ya go!" the employee says, holding out two cups. I take them both and thank her as Luke hands her the money. He leads me to a table in the back, smiling. "So, Thalia Grace, you say us being this so called demigods is insane."

"Freaking impossible." I tell him, sipping my hot chocolate. "As freaking impossible as fighting monsters and reading Greek perfectly on your first try." He counters. My eyes widen. "You know about monsters? How did you know I fight monsters?"

"Well, you mentioned you are perfectly capable of defending yourself before. I kinda picked up you didn't mean people. And your shield, I suppose that isn't just for show." I shrug, setting my cup down. How could I ignore the evidence, no matter how foolish? What could I possibly say? I close my eyes.

Inhale. Exhale.

"How...How can I trust you, Luke Castellan?" I ask warily, finally opening my eyes. Luke stares at me for a moment and pulls out the book again. He flips open to a page and reaches out to hold my hand. "Listen to this carefully." He whispers. I nod and stare down at our hands, probably liking it more than I should. He begins to read in a strong, clear voice, forcing me to listen.

"To say that demigods were alone is an immense understatement. They lived in constant rejection by mortals. They wandered, performing tasks in partial hope for acceptance. These heroes relied on their instinct, and on rare messages from their godly parent. Demigod heroes would have benefited greatly from contacts with other demigods. United demigods hold no prospect of failure, for as long as they are together, they will fight for each other and protect each other at all costs. They will always watch out for each other in their journey to find a home." He stops and closes the book. He looks up and touches my face. "Thalia Grace, you give me something to fight for. We need to find out who we are together. I promise I'll take care of you. I'll never hurt you." He says quietly, touching my face. I look away for a moment and then look back into his bright blue eyes. I stare at our intertwined hands and hold his tighter. "Then we're in this together, Luke Castellan." I say firmly, meaning each word. And I trusted him. I thought he would take care of me. I thought he would keep that promise…


	4. Standing in Front of Me

"So, what now?" I ask stupidly, rising from the table. Something about Luke's faces changes. "You seriously trust me? Like, no second thoughts?" He holds the door open for me. God, it's freaking cold, but I hardly notice. I'm too busy on what Luke just said.

I smirk at that. "I'm not the best judge of what's trustworthy, but _wow, _with_ you_, it was like_, instant attraction_." I tell him sarcastically. He laughs at that. "You're actually pretty funny for such a… dark person." He mutters. I smile a little, liking him more and more. "Yeah? I 'm dark? Like, really dark? Threatening-like?" I ask, interested in his opinion of me. "Almost emo-like." He teases, touching the hair that falls on my forehead. Gee, that was new. I look up at him. "I'm not an emo." I reassure him. He nods as if he's thoroughly convinced and pulls his hood up. "So, what's our next move?" He asks, mirroring my question. I wait, because that's a rhetorical question if I ever heard one. I have heard a couple, actually.

_Do you realize how ungrateful you are?!_

_How can you not see how bad things are for me?!_

_Is it all about you now, huh, missy?!_

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, refusing to go back to that time.

_But still, it was my fault wasn't it? It was me that left Jason alone with… with her. He would still be here if it weren't for me. What's he doing right now at this moment? What if he needs me? What if maybe he thought it was my fault? I didn't even know where he was! There was just that flash, and my mother, my stupid mother…_

"We need to find a place to stay."

''What?" I ask, irritated. Luke regards me carefully, looking into my eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. What was that you said about a face?" I ask, still slightly off.

"You mean a _place_?" he asks, confused now. I zip up my jacket, figuring it's what he said. "Yes, that. Continue."

"Well, it's San Francisco, we're not going to have any problems here. Plenty of abandoned buildings and such…"

I nod, trying to accept that was the best I had. "Right, so we hang out here for a while…" I ask, hoping for him to say that we have a plan. He picks up on my tone. "Yeah, I've got something."

"Can you tell me what it is?" I ask, slightly annoyed because those thoughts are coming back, the ones that haunt me _everywhere._

He nods, patient as ever, still watching me attentively. "Well, I've been around and I'm not saying it's great and all, but there's a place that I know, by the St. James River?"

"I don't know where that is." I admit. I had more important things to learn than geography. "South Dakota." He answers. That throws me off. "Oh, God, that's…far. Like, really far."

"Yeah, but it's the best we can do. It's a safe house I came upon a while ago." He tells me, leading the way back to that park we passed on the way to the café. It's empty now, a perfect analogy. I sit down on the dark green bench, scooting over so he can sit too. "Hey, we'll make it." He says, taking my hand. I don't pull away because his touch is so calming, soreal. The heat of his skin against mine makes me feel _happy_ for some reason. "You'll be fine." He repeats, staring at the empty swings, probably seeing something else. And I know it's going to sound stupid, but for the briefest of a moment I feel that things might work out. He's got me, I've got him. Nothing else makes sense. "Come on." He murmurs, taking my hand and helping me up.

**Please review, because they honestly, every single one means the world to me. It makes me feel awesome hearing from you guys :) Thanks, I love ya! More to come, promise!**


	5. All of My Doubts

**Hey, guys! It's me! Please leave your comments, I love them, hehe. I should be done with the next chapter by tomorrow, but i need to add in a demigod character, so if you want to help me, please ****_leave a comment_**** giving a character name, what they look like, who their godly parent is, and one line of dialogue you want them to say. I'll try to fit it in. total credits to you in my author's notes, of course :) bye for now.**

_"Lee-Lee, why does Momma do that?" Jason whispers, staring at the empty bottle in my mother's hand. I take his hand and get him away from her. "It's okay, don't be scared, all right?" I whisper, holding him close. "It's you and me, okay, Jason? I promise I won't let her hurt you."_

I wake in a cold sweat, waking Annabeth too. Her intelligent gray eyes regard me carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I lie immediately, trying to smile. "Don't worry about me, kiddo. Have you seen Luke?"

"Outside," she answers swiftly. I smile thinly at her because it's the best I can do, and step outside. The thick trees are high up above us, the clear, river twenty feet ahead, its banks smooth and sandy. It isn't that cold, but I wrap my sweater around me tightly. I find Luke hovering over a tattered old map, his eyes focused with intense concentration. I smirk, liking the way his tousled blonde hair falls onto his eyes, the way his jaw is set, his lips pursed. Old jeans and a faded Green day shirt. He looks up at me and I quickly pretend I wasn't staring at him. "Hey," he smiles.

"Hi," I breathe simply, staring at the map. It's marked with our safe houses, our safe routes to those safe houses. I bite my lip. "Got anything?"

"Yeah. We're right here." He tells me, pointing to a dot red dot in South Dakota. "The safe house in Illinois is perfectly stocked, remember, before we went to Iowa? So, Illinois." Luke says, making a swift movement east. I nod. "But, then, that means that we should leave what we have here."

"Exactly. It isn't much, but South Dakota's pretty silent. We could come back if we wanted to."

"We." I let the word out of my mouth because I like it so much, and the instant I do, I feel stupid for letting it slip. Luke just laughs. "Yeah, we. Annabeth, you, and me."

"You and I," Annabeth smiles brightly, walking toward us. "But you're still cool."

"Yay, us." I say tonelessly, fighting back a smile.

"So, where are we going next?" she asks, pulling some fruit out of her old navy bag. I take an apple and bite into the skin gratefully when Luke replies, "Illinois. We have a safe house up by Chicago."

"Chicago." She repeats thoughtfully. "Incorporated as a city in 1837. 40 million people visit it annually."

Luke smiles, amused with her. "California?"

"It holds two of the top ten most populous cities. Los Angeles and San Diego." She replies quickly.

I tilt my head. "How about…let's say…South Carolina?"

"It was originally one of the thirteen colonies, the eighth, and the first battle of the Civil War took place on Fort Sumter."

"You are brilliant, Annabeth." I tell her in hushed awe, taking another bite of the sweet apple. "How do you even know about the Civil War?" Luke asks in amazement, his face lit up. She looks slightly uncomfortable and looks away for a moment. "I…I, umm, I read." She answers finally, her clear voice less confident. I don't press her, because maybe somehow it has something to do with her past. And as close as we are already, I can't ask that of her yet. I finish my apple and hold my knees close to my chest. It's getting really cold, and in the Chicago safe house we have enough blankets to pitch a tent. I can't wait to leave. "But wait," Annabeth says, holding an orange slice. "It's five hundred and ninety miles from here."

I just stare at her, unable to even comprehend how she just calculated that in her head. When she joined us, I guess I just kind of assumed we would be the ones taking care of her, keeping her safe, teaching her the way of our world. But it wasn't like that. We were learning from her, she was teaching us things that we couldn't even expect from her. That's why we love her so much, that's why she isn't with us in a temporary alliance like we were with other runaways. She understands us. She helps us, in huge ways like this, and doesn't even expect anything in return. She's like us.

"True," Luke whispers, not even doubting her. We learned that about a day after she joined us, when she saved me and Luke from a drachnae by insisting that we were walking into a trap. After that, whatever Annabeth said, went, and we've avoided a couple of narrow scrapes thanks to her. "I…I've got enough money for a bus." I breathe, trying not to look guilty. "My mom…she…there's no way she'd miss it. How long do you think it'd take us?"

"Eleven hours, max." Annabeth says confidently, nodding at the map. "Alright. Annabeth, it's in a small brown pouch, can you bring it for me?" I ask her. "Okay." She responds, getting up and running back to the tent, about ten feet away. I look up at Luke, worried. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad at you? I can hardly be mad at you, Thalia. Besides, that was an Annabeth, keeping the money safe."

I laugh. "An Annabeth? Something totally smart, I'm guessing. What's a Thalia?"

"Something brave. Something strong. Powerful. Like, _Hey, guys, I just beat up a monster, like a Thalia_." He says smoothly, trying to look cool. And I hate to admit it, but he really does pull it off. The tousled blonde hair, the bright blue eyes, straight white smile. I turn red thinking about this, and it's totally easy to tell, because I swear I'm the palest thing on earth. My short black hair doesn't help, it naturally brings attention to my face, which I hate, but it sounded like a great way to rebel against my mom back then. He laughs. "You're blushing."

"I like compliments. They're rare for me." I reply offhandedly, trying to act indifferent. He smiles winningly at me. "If you say so."

"God, Luke, you make it so hard not to like you, do y-"

His face is suddenly empty, and he presses his fingers to my lips. "Do you hear that?" he mouths quickly. My blue eyes widen in fear.

It's Annabeth, screaming out in pain.


End file.
